Things were looking bleak for the student protest movement in July: they had caused themselves some political discredit with an evening of desničarenje, some divisions were becoming apparent, and the police repression seemed, for a time, to be working. Not so in August: the regime is once again losing the plot and the protests are gaining back force.

What made the difference? In a word, violence. Let’s talk a bit about how regimes that engage in violence undermine their own legitimacy and reveal their limitations.

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